Gas-liquid separators, also referred to as deaerators, are devices used to separate gas from a liquid. In the context of a gas turbine engine, they can be used to separate air from scavenged oil for instance.
Centrifugal separators typically involve the formation of a vortex within a cylindrical cavity. Given the presence of the vortex, the denser liquid tends to migrate towards the wall of the cavity, whereas the gas migrates towards the center of the cavity, from where it can be extracted.
In the field of gas turbine engines, it was known to provide separators having rotating blades within a gearbox environment. The rotation of the rotating blades was driven mechanically by another rotating component associated with the gearbox of the gas turbine engine, via meshed gear engagement.
Former centrifugal separators have been satisfactory to a certain degree, but there remains room for improvement.